Such charging devices have been used as a device for distributing material into blast furnaces for producing iron. Such charging devices have also been used for filling material into other vessels such as reacting furnaces, reaction towers and catalyst containers.
In such a charging device, it is necessary to distribute the material in a desired pattern, such as an even planar distribution inside a vessel. For this purpose, the charging device is required to be able to freely control the direction and the condition of the charged material. For this purpose, various distribution mechanisms have been developed.
In the device of Patent Literature 1, a cylindrical or drainpipe shaped distribution chute is installed in an inclined manner. By rotating the distribution chute around a vertical rotation axis, the material is distributed inside the blast furnace in a ring shape through a tip of the distribution chute. Further, by adjusting the angle of inclination of the distribution chute relative to the rotation axis, the area in which the material discharged from the distribution chute reaches is changed, thereby controlling the state of the distribution.
The device of Patent Literature 2 similarly controls the state of the distribution by rotating a distribution chute as described above. However, the device does not have mechanism to rotate the distribution chute around the rotation axis. Instead the rotation function is achieved by the swing actions of two pivot mechanisms. Accordingly, the two pivot support mechanisms of the distribution chute are installed in a manner that the pivot axes of the respective pivot support mechanisms intersect with each other and two drive cylinders corresponding to each direction are cooperatively operated.